Chapter 30: Mutual Appreciation

I froze in the hot water, knowing any movement would slosh the water and give me away. The bathroom door wasn't even closed, never mind locked. Why would I lock it? I was alone. It was probably only room service, I told myself. But I was so on edge. No one had sent me any updates. I felt like a lobster in a slowly boiling pot, waiting for the numb defeat to really set in.

Then a shadow blotted the doorway: long and lean and strong, with a coil of dark hair.

"Sy!" I half-screamed, joy stealing my breath. I hadn't dared to hope.

His face was still stained with bright blood, dry and pale under his nose and darkening his split lip.

I stood up in the bath, the cold striking in after the sharp heat of the bathwater. I was frozen, staring at him in joyous disbelief.

"They let you go." I felt the grin, big and silly, spread across my face.

In a second he'd crossed the space between us.

"Gods, I need you."

His arms sprang around me, gripping my soaking body against his clothed one.